Branimir Glavaš

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Branimir Glavaš

Branimir Glavaš (born September 23, 1956) is a Croatian right-wing politician from Osijek and has rank of Major General of the Croatian Army.

1 Early life and military career
2 Political career after the war
3 Split with HDZ
4 War crimes charges
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life and military career

Glavaš attended gymnasium in his home town of Osijek and graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Osijek.^[1]

In 1990 Glavaš was one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and one of the most prominent members of that party in Slavonia. In the same year he was elected to the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) and later became part of the last Croatian delegation in the House of Republics and Provinces of the Yugoslav Federal Assembly.^[1]

When the tensions between the new Croatian government and Croatia's ethnic Serb minority began to escalate, Glavaš emerged as one of the most militant Croatian politicians, earning the reputation of a maverick. From 12 October 1990 until 24 April 1992 he was secretary of the Secretariat for Defense of the Osijek municipality (Sekretarijat za narodnu obranu općine Osijek), becoming one of the most important officials in charge of defending Osijek and Slavonia.^[1] On 2 November 1991, with Croatian War of Independence already in progress, he was appointed assistant to the commander for the defence of Osijek in charge of territorial co-ordination and public relations.^[1] On 1 December 1991 he was appointed to the rank of major (bojnik) and on 7 December 1991 he was appointed commander of defence for Osijek.^[1]

His record in wartime Osijek is the subject of some controversy - while some point to his armed takeover of the local daily newspaper Glas Slavonije as an illustration of Glavaš' questionable methods of government, others see him as an icon of Croatian resistance who was affectionately called the "Father and Mother of Slavonia". What isn't debatable is that Glavaš emerged from the war as the most powerful politician in eastern Slavonia, able to defy even Franjo Tuđman.

In April 1992, after the Command for the defence of Osijek was dissolved, he was named assistant to the commander of First operation zone Osijek.^[1]

[edit] Political career after the war

After demobilisation, on 30 May 1992, he was elected president of Executive council of the Osijek municipality Assembly.^[1]

At the February 1993 elections he was elected delegate to the Chamber of Counties (Županijski dom Sabora), and on 14 April 1993 he became the first prefect of the Osijek-Baranja County (župan Osječko-baranjske županije). At the October 1995 elections he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives (Zastupnički dom Sabora), then he was re-elected to the Chamber of Counties at the April 1997 elections, and in May 1997 he was also reelected prefect of the Osijek-Baranja County. From 28 October 1997 to February 1999 he was Inspector of the Croatian Army (Inspektor Hrvatske Vojske) at the Inspectorate General of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Glavna Inspekcija Oružanih Snaga Republike Hrvatske), Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia (Ministarstvo Obrane Republike Hrvatske); after that, he was again elected prefect of the Osijek-Baranja County until the end of June 2000. He was reelected to the Croatian Parliament in the January 2000 elections when HDZ lost power after 10 years of rule. He was reelected in the November 2003 elections and is currently (as of 2006) a member of the Croatian Parliament.^[1]

Through all that time, Glavaš developed a rivalry with Osijek mayor Zlatko Kramarić, who was his opposite in everything - from politics to style. After the 1993 local elections, Kramarić won power in Osijek, but Glavaš and his HDZ kept the rest of Osijek-Baranja county. In that period Glavaš surprised many by offering agricultural subsidies to ethnic Serb citizens in then-occupied sections of eastern Slavonia, and explaining that he would be "first in peace just as he was first in war".

Partly through charisma, partly through a well-established network of supporters, and partly through presenting himself as a champion of Slavonian interests in Zagreb, Glavaš maintained a tight grip on power and eastern Slavonia remained an HDZ stronghold even after the death of Franjo Tuđman and his party's loss of power at the national level in 2000.

On 21 April 2005, he left the HDZ to become an independent representative.

[edit] Split with HDZ

In 2002, when hardliner Ivić Pašalić challenged new and moderate HDZ leader Ivo Sanader for party leadership, Branimir Glavaš, despite his own hardline credentials, decided to support the latter. At the crucial HDZ convention he provided security, which helped Sanader to remain the party chairman.

A year later, the HDZ won the election and Ivo Sanader became prime minister with Glavaš as one of his most important allies. However, as time went by and Sanader's policies became less popular, and there were apparent setbacks for Croatia's prospects for entry into the EU, so Glavaš began to publicly distance himself from Sanader, expressing Euroscepticism and views critical towards the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This process escalated a few days before the start of local elections in May 2005.

Glavaš proclaimed himself to be a regionalist and began to advocate regional reorganisation of Croatia, founding a political organisation with that aim. For this he was immediately ejected from the HDZ, but not before persuading almost the entire membership of the local party to support his project and new electoral ticket.

In the elections his list of independent candidates won a relative majority in Osijek and Osijek-Baranja county. This prompted Kramarić to approach all other parties in Osijek and attempt to form a broad anti-Glavaš coalition, an offer which was accepted and resulted in HDZ loyalists being allied with the likes of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia.

In June 2005 Glavaš defeated this scheme, first by allying with the far-right Croatian Party of Rights (a coalition that gave the HSP the mayoral position in Osijek for the first time), then by persuading some assemblymen of the anti-Glavaš coalition to support his candidates in inaugural sessions of the Osijek-Baranja county and City of Osijek assembly.

On 6 May 2006 Glavaš and his supporters founded a new political party - the Croatian Democratic Assembly of Slavonija and Baranja.

[edit] War crimes charges

In July 2005, Glavaš was publicly implicated in the 1991 murders of Serb civilians in Osijek. In May 2006 Croatian chief prosecutor Mladen Bajić asked the Croatian Parliament to deprive Glavaš of his parliamentary immunity, in order to start formal criminal proceedings in the case. On 10 May, this request was granted.

During the proceedings, prosecutors failed twice in their attempts to have Glavaš arrested, because investigative magistrates and local courts rejected their demands to issue arrest warrants. However, on 23 October one investigative magistrate issued an arrest warrant, which was approved by the Mandate-Immunity Committee of Croatian Parliament after four days of dramatic and confusing deliberations. Glavaš was arrested on 26 October and put in jail for fear that he might influence witnesses if he was bailed.^[2]

Osijek's investigative judge Mario Kovac has since ruled that the case against Glavaš can begin. Glavaš subsequently went on hunger strike.^[3] On 2 December 2006, Glavaš was released from custody pending his trial, bringing to an end his 37-day hunger strike. The investigating judge had ruled that Glavaš was too ill to attend legal hearings, and investigations were suspended. On 8 February 2007, the case against Glavas was reopened.^[4]

Glavaš and his supporters claim that the criminal investigation is politically motivated and point to its start coinciding with Glavaš's departure from the ruling HDZ party.

Branimir Glavaš was indicted on 16 April 2007 for having killed Serb civilians during 1990s war. The county court in Osijek indicted him for allegedly giving orders to members of a unit under his command to abduct, torture and murder Serbs in late 1991. Following the indictment, he was returned to custody. He started a second hunger strike on 27 April.^[4] On 9 May a second indictment was brought against him on charges of ordering the torture and killing of at least two Serb civilians.^[4] His trial began in Osijek on 15 October 2007 and he reportedly risks a prison term of between five and twenty years if found guilty.^[4] On 25 November 2007 Glavaš was re-elected to parliament in the Croatian elections.^[4] It has been reported that witnesses in the trial, including Osijek-based journalist Drago Hedl, have been threatened.^[5]